In Front | Revelation and the Reformation

The reformer Martin Luther was direct in his dislike of the book of Revelation. He suggested in his introduction to the book that it was so confusing that having it “is just the same as if we did not have the book at all. And there are many far better books available for us to keep.”

At the time of the Reformation, there may have been no book better suited than Revelation to those engaging in a war of propaganda. At a time of social and political upheaval, many were forecasting the Apocalypse. The Bible’s most cryptic and least understood book became a favored text. The obscurity of its images, and their violent and nightmarish tendencies, made the book appealing at a time of upheaval that tore the fabric of common society and ended the world of the Middle Ages.

Even Luther himself would find use for the book of Revelation, as his 1522 New Testament featured woodcuts with both the Dragon of Revelation and the Whore of Babylon from that same book, each wearing the Papal Tiara.

In 1529, a catholic pamphlet titled the “The Seven Heads of Martin Luther” returned the favor and included an illustration of Luther with seven heads that identified him as the seven-headed beast from Revelation 13:1, effectively the Antichrist.

Altogether, these images are a good reminder that even some of the greatest theologians can both dismiss or exploit this book and that we need to be balanced and careful when we read it. There’s a lot to learn here, but also an unusually large margin for misreading and abuse.  

Sources used:
Martin Luther, “Preface to the Revelation of St. John” (1522), in E. Theodore Bachmann, ed., Luther’s Works, vol. 35: Word and Sacrament I, 1960, pp. 398-399, accessed online at https://gervatoshav.blogspot.com/2009/02/martin-luthers-preface-to-revelation-of.html. Accessed Nov 3, 2020.

The referenced images are found in the digital collection German History in Documents and Images (GHDI), accessed at http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/sub_image.cfm?image_id=3325 and http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/sub_image.cfm?image_id=3321. Accessed Nov 3, 2020.